Shady plan to give Maylands a boost

THE Guildford Road side of the Maylands town centre is about as green as Death Valley, prompting local Elli Petersen-Pik to start a tree-planting campaign.

“It’s not a pretty streetscape, it’s not very inviting,” Mr Petersen-Pik says.

“It’s not responsible or acceptable that not even one street tree has been planted to shade pedestrians along that street.”

He says the lack of trees will hamper any attempts to revitalise the area, while the blaring sun can deter potential customers from walking into town, especially seniors.

• Elli Petersen-Pik trying to shade his youngster from the harsh sun in treeless Maylands. Photo by Trilokesh Chanmugam

Inviting

“In East Perth for example, on Royal Street, there’s lots of shade there.

I’m not necessarily saying we should have plane trees, because they’re not native, but that’s an example of a street that looks beautiful and inviting.”

The president of the Maylands Ratepayers and Residents Association, at Bayswater council’s AGM last year, Mr Petersen-Pik submitted a motion calling for street trees along that stretch, and says it was encouraging councillor Chris Cornish was his seconder. That’ll go to council this week for a decision.

“I want to get that issue on the agenda with the city and Main Roads,” Mr Petersen-Pik says.

“But to get that initiative off the ground is not going to be easy because both of them have to work together which is the complicating situation here.

Pressure

“I do want to see the council put more presure on Main Roads to prioritise this issue.”

The state government plans to widen the Guildford Road reserve in the future, but Mr Petersen-Pik says he’s got plenty of spots for trees that wouldn’t be affected.